Transport of low-salinity water at the slope water-Gulf Stream boundary

Abstract

Hydrographic and drogue measurements were used to estimate the transport of shelf water by the freshened water bands at the slope water-Gulf Stream boundary, north of Cape Hatteras. Surface and subsurface bands were observed. Total transport was found to be 40,000 m3/s. The source of the water for the surface and subsurface bands is the water above and below the shelf thermocline north of Cape Hatteras. The bands carry a significant, perhaps major, fraction of the shelf water passing through the Middle Atlantic Bight.